Jorge da Costa

Jorge da Costa as Archbishop of Braga (1486)

Cardinal Jorge da Costa

Jorge da Costa (* 1406 in Alpedrinha , Beira , Kingdom of Portugal ; † September 18, 1508 in Rome ) was a Portuguese clergyman, Archbishop of Lisbon and Cardinal of the Roman Church .

Life

Origin and youth

Jorge da Costa came from an impoverished family. He was the son of Martin Vaz and Caterina Gonçalves da Costa. He had several siblings: Martinho da Costa , who succeeded him as Archbishop of Lisbon; the same name Jorge da Costa , Archbishop of Braga ; Catherina da Costa; Isabel da Costa; Elvira da Costa and Margarida Vaz. After schooling in Alpedrinha, he studied at the University of Paris , which his brothers Martinho and Jorge also attended.

Church career

After completing his studies, Jorge da Costa returned to Lisbon and worked as a pastor in Scalabo ( Santarém ), where the Portuguese royal court had withdrawn because of the plague . He became pastor and confessor of Infanta Catherine (* November 25, 1436 - June 17, 1463), a daughter of King Edward I , who belonged to the order of the Poor Clares . He was also an advisor and confessor to King Alfonso V , who sent him as an ambassador to the royal court of Castile .

On March 6, 1463, Jorge da Costa was appointed Bishop of Évora . On a mission in Gibraltar he reached a peace treaty with King Henry IV of Castile. He was made Archbishop of Lisbon on November 26, 1464, from which office he resigned on June 28, 1500 in favor of his brother Martin.

At the suggestion of King Alfonso V of Portugal, Jorge da Costa was made cardinal, and Pope Sixtus IV created him cardinal priest in the consistory of December 18, 1476 . The appointment was announced on December 20 of the same year in the Vatican basilica , the cardinal's hat and the titular church Santi Marcellino e Pietro was given to Jorge da Costa on January 15, 1477. Because of disputes with the heir to the throne, the Infante John , the cardinal left Alfonso after his death V. Portugal and from then on lived in Rome, which he reached quietly and weakened by illness on June 14, 1480. On July 8, 1484 he first took part in a public consistory. As early as March 19, 1484, he was appointed legatus a latere in Venice , with the aim of pacifying Italy. On March 22nd, he traveled to Cesena , but got no further. He was back in Rome for the 1484 conclave and was one of the cardinals who elected Pope Innocent VIII . On November 8, 1484 he opted for the titular church of Santa Maria in Trastevere . From January 11, 1486 to 1487 he was treasurer of the Holy College of Cardinals . In 1486 he was appointed Archbishop of Braga, where he held a synod in 1488 ; in the same year he renounced the bishopric in favor of his brother Jorge and was again administrator there from 1501 to 1505 . On October 15, 1489, he opted for the titular church of San Lorenzo in Lucina , near which he resided.

Jorge da Costa opted on October 10, 1491 for the cardinal class of the cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian diocese of Albano , but kept the title of San Lorenzo in Lucina in commendam until his death. On March 22, 1492, he received Cardinal Giovanni de 'Medici in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo , and in May of the same year he escorted the “ Holy Lance ” from Narni to Rome. He took part in the 1492 conclave , from which Alexander VI. emerged as Pope. On February 13, 1495, the Pope transferred to him in commendam the bishopric of Genoa , which Cardinal Paolo Fregoso had renounced in his favor, whereby he reserved the right to get back what was to come; on July 29, 1496 Jorge da Costa renounced in favor of Cardinal Fregosos. He was a leading member of a six-member cardinals commission that was supposed to prepare a reform bull in 1497 . On May 14, 1501 he opted for the suburbicarian diocese of Frascati and after April 10, 1503 for the suburbicarian diocese of Porto e Santa Rufina , which is connected with the office of subdean of the college of cardinals. He took part in the first conclave of 1503 , the Pius III. elected Pope; he also took part in the second conclave of 1503 , in which Julius II was elected Pope.

Last years and death

At the beginning of 1505 he was appointed Bishop of Viseu - almost a hundred years old - but renounced this bishopric before June 1505. For Julius II's solemn entry into Rome on March 28, 1507, he had a triumphal arch built on the Campo Marzio .

Cardinal Jorge da Costa was an important art patron and was considered one of the richest cardinals of his time.

Jorge da Costa died in Rome on September 18, 1508, at the age of 102. He was buried in the chapel of Santa Caterina , in the Church, he already 1489 Santa Maria del Popolo had built and on its behalf by Pinturicchio with frescoes had been appointed.

Web links

Commons : Jorge da Costa  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Costa, Jorge there. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed October 13, 2016.
• Entry on Jorge da Costa on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on October 13, 2016.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} According to Miranda, the similarity of names and the age difference of about 50 years rather indicate that the younger Jorge da Costa was his nephew and not his brother, cf. Costa, Jorge there. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website , English), there footnote (3).
2. ↑ See his epitaph, reproduced in Miranda

predecessor	Office	successor
Vasco Perdigão	Bishop of Évora 1463–1464	Luís Pires
Afonso Nogueira	Archbishop of Lisbon 1464–1500	Martinho da Costa
João Galvão (Elect)	Archbishop of Braga 1486–1488	Jorge da Costa
Giovanni Michiel	Bishop of Albano 1491–1501	Lorenzo Cybo di Mari
Giovanni Battista Zeno	Bishop of Frascati 1501–1503	Lorenzo Cybo di Mari
Giovanni Michiel	Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina 1503–1508	Raffaele Riario Galeotti